New Baby & New Parent

Discussion in 'Iguanas' started by Joanna Johnson, Jul 10, 2013.

  1. Joanna Johnson

    Joanna Johnson Embryo

    Messages:
    1
    Hey There!

    Just wanted to see if my husband and I could get some guided help on raising our new Iguana, he is a baby that we just purchased from the petstore on Sunday. Right now we have his "cage" set up in a 40 gallon tank. We have the black UVA light on him 24/7 and the white tube UVB light on him during the day. We put a thermostat controller in there which seems to be working great. (Zilla 11939 Temperature Controller, 1000-Watt) I have placed a human heating pad in the "cage" with him (its wrapped in an old towel so it doesn't burn him/her) he is now burrowing under the heating pad and staying there alot! We are having a problem with keeping the humidity up...when i got home yesterday it was at 40%. So I immediately sprayed him and the cage down.

    Should I remove the heating pad since the temp is right where its supposed to be? Should I turn down the temp when it's his bed time? He does have a place where he can hid (bark thing from the pet store) and then a tree branch to climb on. The other end of the "Cage" has his food and water. Another question I had is what is mainly suggested for the "bedding" as you can see in the picture we have that bark stuff. But I want to change it since I can't tell if he used the bathroom or not. Also we have a screen top for him, but how do you keep the humidity nice and high?

    Help us please!!! This is Juan Diego... juan diego.jpg
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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    5,483
     
  3. Cammy

    Cammy ReptileBoards Addict

    Messages:
    919
    Hello, and welcome to the boards! Juan Diego is a beautiful lime green! Love it.

    I'll try to hit your questions first:

    Assuming you can achieve the correct basking and ambient temperatures without it, I would say yes. You don't want him hiding underneath it all the time. He needs to come out and bask in his hot spot with the UVB. Make sure that you are using a reliable digital thermometer with probe or a temp gun to get your temperature readings, and that the basking spot is within 6-10" of the UVB bulb's surface.

    Any humidity retaining substrate will work. I prefer coco-fiber soil or peat/sphagnum moss (or a mix of both). His stool will still blend into those, however, since he is currently pretty small. When he is older, it will be pretty obvious where he has defecated. Also, a lot of iggies prefer to go in their water, so make sure he has a good sized water bowl big enough for him to soak in.

    There are a few tricks you can use to keep the humidity up. First, continue to mist the cage frequently, at least 2-3 times a day. Make sure you are using a moisture retaining substrate as mentioned above. Using a large water dish as also mentioned will help with your humidity levels as well. (This will also give him a nice place to soak if it does get too dry.) Using an abundance of plants (either real or fake) will also help retain humidity in the cage, and will also give him a greater sense of security. You can also cover part of the screen lid with a blanket or towel to hold the humidity a little more. If all of this still does not help significantly, you can try setting up a drip system or waterfall feature to keep water flowing in the cage.

    Iguanas can be fairly demanding reptiles--not because they are sensitive, but simply due to size and temperament. If you have any questions about taming, behavior, diet, cage setup, or anything else, please just let me know! I'll be happy to give you pointers on anything you need to know. Once again, welcome to the boards!
     

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